[To the members of the National Chrysler Retirement Organization]
Subject: Update on NCRO Activities Regarding the FCA/PSA Merger
Happy New Year! We hope this letter finds all of you well. As we begin the year of 2021, we hope we can put 2020 behind us and begin to return to our normal life.
It has been a couple of months since we have provided an update on NCRO activities regarding the merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Groupe PSA, from which the new international Stellantis company will be formed. As has been reported recently in the media, all prerequisites in the merger process have been fulfilled and shareholders of both companies have voted overwhelmingly to move forward with the merger. The merger was completed on January 16, 2021.
The NCRO has continued our efforts monitoring the actions of both parties through our outside counsel and other organizations. We have secured and reviewed a merger analysis from an outside organization to learn more about how the various legacy pension plans factor into the Stellantis structure. Additionally, our outside counsel did a complete review of the merger prospectus to obtain similar direction. And we also have had several conversations with the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) in Washington to discuss the merger and learn what they know about it.
Following these actions, in early January we wrote to Michael Manley, the current CEO of FCA and future head of Stellantis in the Americas, concerning the merger and the concerns that we have about our pensions as a result of the merger. In that communication we asked him for his commitment to ensure that salaried pensions and benefits are continued at least at the current level and are included in the Stellantis plans. We heard back almost immediately from FCA, with this response:
“In relation to your specific concern on the NBU Pensions it should be noted that due to this corporate transaction being a merger, the rights and obligations of FCA US LLC regarding the NBU Pensions will continue under Stellantis. Therefore, it is very much ‘business as usual’ from a NBU Pensions standpoint.
Furthermore, after the merger, NBU Pension Participants will continue to have the same protections under ERISA and from the PBGC as they currently do and the company plans to continue to fund its pension plans in accordance with ERISA and IRS requirements.”
We believe that this news is encouraging.
We have a meeting scheduled this month with FCA Human Resources representativeswhere we will have an opportunity to follow up on pension issues, continue our dialogue with FCA and discuss the new corporate structure and other related issues of interest to salaried retirees.
We will continue to monitor the merger as it progresses, and we will update you when we know more.
Sincerely,
Jay Kuhnie
President
National Chrysler Retirement Organization
